


strange and special

by gotchick



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, COVID-19, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, Fire Escapes, Fluff, Introspection, Kinks, Late Night Conversations, Light Angst, M/M, Polyamory, Sexual Tension, Slice of Life, Soft Boys, Threesome, Threesome - M/M/M, and they were ROOMMATES, jaemle, jenle, jeno smokes here im sorry, nominle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:20:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24064234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotchick/pseuds/gotchick
Summary: It never gets boring when the three of them are together, because they have this camaraderie, these sparks. They stimulate each other in a way that they don’t when it’s just any two of them.(Or, Jeno worries about the future a little and his boyfriends comfort him.)
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin/Zhong Chen Le, Lee Jeno/Zhong Chen Le, Na Jaemin/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 31
Kudos: 209





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i actually wanted to write my first jenle because their recent selfies were cute asf and converted them to one of my favourite rarepairs, but then i thought why leave out jaemin? there’s enough love for everyone to share and i’d also been planning on writing my next nomin so this achieved both. it's nice to have been able to write all three of my biases in one fic.
> 
> title from red velvet’s psycho. i hope you enjoy :)

Chenle finds Jeno on the fire escape of their apartment, smoking a cigarette. Judging by its length, it’s pretty freshly-lit. It’s 11 pm, and Jaemin should be back anytime soon. The stars in the pitch dark sky seem clearer than he’s ever seen them, but maybe he just thinks they are because of the news of how pollution levels have gone down.

Besides light pollution, noise pollution is also at an almost eerie low, and the silence of the park and road that Jeno is leaning on the parapet and staring down at, is slightly unnerving.

“Hyung?” Chenle says softly, a minute later when he’s grabbed one of his zip up hoodies from the couch and stepped out into the night air. It’s chilly even through his sweatshirt, but the air is refreshing. Chenle drapes his hoodie over Jeno’s shoulders clumsily.

Jeno turns his head a little to glance at him from the corner of his eye, small smile curling his lips. “Sup?”

Chenle has an urge to kiss him, taste the ash off Jeno’s warm tongue. He leans backwards against the railing too, relaxing.

The smoking is something relatively new. Jeno had picked it up late last year, much to Jaemin’s dismay when they found out (Chenle had to tell him, they have a full disclosure tenet in their relationship rules; but it was only a matter of time before Jaemin would’ve found out himself anyway because Jeno couldn’t keep gargling mouthwash before all their kisses).

Jaemin’d nagged Jeno persistently to stop, wheedling Chenle onto his side, and Jeno had halfheartedly agreed, not wanting to get into another unhealthy addiction either. He’d apparently stopped for a while, but then the year ended and the pandemic broke out, and classes at the university all three of them attended were suspended. Jeno resumed his bad habit, presumably out of stress and boredom.

Jaemin started up the nagging again, guilt-tripping Jeno for exposing all their lungs to secondhand smoke, but then news about smokers having higher immunity came out, and Jaemin’s rants tapered out uncertainly. Left to make the decision for himself, Jeno tried his best to quit cold turkey again to appease Jaemin’s worries. But sometimes, when Jaemin is out, Chenle knows he privately goes out to the fire escape or stairwell of their building to indulge in a rare cigarette.

He doesn’t really mind, one way or another.

In response to Jeno’s question, Chenle shrugs now, covertly studying the older boy’s side profile. Jeno just turned twenty recently, is the only one of them to have left teenagehood and graduated into adulthood. Maybe that’s why he seems more mature and enigmatic sometimes. It’s not really frustrating, per se — okay, maybe a little; but Chenle has enough of his own boundaries to understand that living together as they do, in an unconventional relationship like theirs, respecting one another’s personal space is important.

So he doesn’t ask why Jeno looks pensive, eyes unreadable in the silvery half-light of the moon. Instead, he asks lightly, “Want me to suck you off before Jaemin hyung comes back? We can be real quick.”

Jeno’s eyes slide towards him, lips parting around his cigarette. He moves it away from his mouth and finally fixes his full attention on Chenle’s face. It’s a thrill that always feels as heady as the first time. Chenle wonders if this is what people call love.

“Sorry,” Jeno murmurs after a moment, exhaling a delicate puff of smoke. “I’m not really in the mood right now.”

His apologetic smile is slightly uncertain so Chenle returns it with double the watts. “S’cool, I was just asking. Hyung should be back soon anyway and it’d be awkward if he walked in on us.”

They don’t have a rule that any two of them can’t have sex without the third, but Chenle can imagine Jaemin’s face falling, anyway, if he ever witnesses the quick and dirty get-offs Jeno and Chenle sometimes do each other as favours when Jaemin is busy. He himself wouldn’t care much if they did it, but Jaemin and Jeno are significantly more possessive lovers than him.

“Are you missing him?” Chenle asks, turning to face the street view Jeno is gazing down on, moving closer to his hyung so their elbows touch through the layers of clothes. Jeno doesn’t shift away, but sighs as he presses the length of his bicep against Chenle’s. Chenle feels a pleasant shiver move through him at the intimacy and warmth.

“Nah,” Jeno says in his stoic voice. Chenle has learned not to be offended by his monosyllables, as he has gotten used to Jaemin’s running on when he gets excited about something. Just like he loves how expressive and communicative Jaemin is, Chenle appreciates and admires how self-possessed Jeno can be at his young age, not needing to fill spaces with chatter, comfortable to just be.

Jeno doesn’t give out his affections freely, which was why soon after he moved in with the two of them into this slightly shabby but cozy apartment, he’d found himself craving Jeno’s attention.

The three of them met at school. Jaemin and Jeno were best friends, and they all shared one elective class together. They sat in the same row during lectures and Chenle found out they were looking for someone to rent their spare room when they got chatting. He was looking for a place closer to campus to stay, so the rest was history.

Chenle checks his smartwatch discreetly. Maybe he’s the one who’s worried about Jaemin — Jaemin has always had the busiest schedule out of the three of them, but it’s natural to be extra concerned in the current climate. He hopes Jaemin will hurry back soon to their little house and they can all turn in. Chenle slips his phone out of his pocket and smiles to see a message from the object of his thoughts.

 _omw_ , Jaemin’s reply to his text from an hour earlier simply reads, with a kissy emoji.

Probably because he thinks Chenle doesn’t want to inhale the smoke, Jeno has ground out his half-crumbled cigarette beneath his boot and is currently regarding the opposite building absently. Lights are burning in only a few windows. Their own living room is dim, though Chenle can see a square of light from their kitchen awaiting the three of them to congregate for a midnight supper.

Since Jeno looks bored, but somehow open at the same time, Chenle decides to risk what he’s holding back from asking. Jaemin isn’t home yet, after all, and Jeno doesn’t look like he wants to go back in.

“What are you thinking about?” The words slip from his mouth, naturally. “Hyung,” Chenle adds, almost as an afterthought, almost just to see the way Jeno’s face softens indescribably at the single word. He’ll never tire of the way both of them react every time he calls them that, even after so long.

The first time Jeno confided in Chenle, he’d felt something in his heart shift. He’d never in a million years expected Jeno to tell him anything private. Jaemin — maybe, but not quiet and prideful and mysterious Lee Jeno.

Later on, he discovered that Jaemin is far more mysterious than Jeno, and there’s something about Jeno that is surprisingly straightforward and appealing. Still, it goes straight past his defences every time Jeno (or Jaemin) lets him in.

He imagines they feel the same way about him. For his birthday, Jaemin had given him a set of Russian nesting dolls, because he said Chenle is so rich, he didn’t know what else to get him. Inside the littlest doll, there was a sweet miniature card where Jaemin said he thinks Chenle is like a series of Matryoshka dolls, as cryptic and wrapped up. Layers and layers that addict people to peeling them off, in Jaemin’s eloquent words.

It’s funny, because that’s similar to how Chenle sees them both too. While Jaemin’s extrovertedness belies how guarded he is behind the flamboyant exterior, Jeno reminds Chenle of an onion — seemingly plain and unobtrusive on the outside, but containing hidden depths of discoveries.

Jeno and him would be lost without Jaemin to defuse the tension, Chenle thinks, not for the first time. When they’re alone together it’s never uncomfortable but sometimes it gets like this, halting and shy like brand new lovers on their first date.

Jeno opens his mouth, but at this moment the sound of the door opening interrupts them — to Chenle’s relief; he’d been getting antsy as midnight approached. They both turn to see the familiar figure moving through the entryway and calling softly, “I’m home!”

Jaemin heads straight for the bathroom to take his regimented shower before he exposes himself to them. Unlike Chenle and Jeno who have been letting themselves get slack and flabby during this lockdown, Jaemin volunteers four days a week at the soup kitchen nearby to deliver boxed meals to elderly residents. It’s just like him — bleeding heart is Jaemin’s middle name — so neither of them had been surprised.

When he first started, the pandemic situation in their country had still been pretty tense, so Jaemin sat them down and asked them seriously if they wanted him to live separately for the duration of his volunteer work. He was worried about exposing them to germs from the outside, because his charity work was important to him, but the two of them were more important.

They had both answered an unequivocal no to splitting up. They needed Jaemin and Jaemin needed them, especially at this tenuous point of life. They would take that risk if it meant they could go on living together through this early stage in their relationship.

Chenle catches a glimpse of Jaemin’s shock of electric blue hair hidden under his favourite bucket hat, black bomber jacket and black mask. Even after a long day, Jaemin always looks like he just stepped off the pages of a magazine. It’s nice knowing that there’s someone else besides him it never fails to knock the breath out of.

Jeno smiles fondly at Chenle as he turns back to the view, and Chenle smiles back, glad he looks slightly less tense now that Jaemin is home. Jeno starts to resume his response to Chenle’s question, but Chenle stops him gently.

“Let’s wait for him. He’ll want to know too.”

Jeno gives him another sweet smile, and nods. He slips his arms into the sleeves of Chenle’s hoodie, and they wait in companionable silence for their other third.

“Babes!” Jaemin’s voice, though considerately low, jolts them both when he joins them at long last, slipping between them easily. Chenle gratefully inhales his fresh post-shower smell of Jeno’s body wash and Chenle’s expensive shampoo, something which makes Chenle feel their possession over him more than anything else. Jaemin looks none less ravishing with his slender figure engulfed in comfy old sweats.

“Missed me?” he grins, irresistibly, and Chenle nods eagerly, hopelessly honest. His face aches with an enormous smile and he feels like a ridiculous panting puppy. Faced with Jaemin’s devilish smirk of homecoming and Jeno’s angelic smile of welcome, Chenle is lost for a second which direction to look.

Jaemin ruffles his hair and coos, while bumping Jeno’s hip. “What have you two been up to today, hm?”

“Nothing,” Jeno replies at the same time Chenle informs, “Jeno hyung’s been thinking.”

“Oh?” Jaemin turns towards their boyfriend with brows raised, concern unstated but clear in his eyes. “What about? Talk to us, dumbass.”

Jeno looks solemn again, but thankfully not annoyed at Chenle drawing the attention to him. He rolls his shoulders, his usual subtle self.

“It’s just — hard to breathe sometimes.”

Jaemin’s brows rush together. “Jeno, you —“ He runs anxious eyes over Jeno’s frame. “Are you feeling okay? No fever or anything?”

Jeno clicks his tongue at Jaemin’s palm on his forehead, mussing his bangs.

“It’s not that.”

“I think he means mentally and not… physically,” Chenle is quick to clarify, shooting a glance at Jeno to check if he guessed wrong. Jeno gives him a grateful look.

“Oh.” Jaemin heaves a sigh of relief, settling back against the railing between them, leaning his elbows on it like they’re both doing but facing into the house. Their bodies jostle together, sharing warmth.

“Why?” He follows up without missing a beat.

Jeno sighs, but there’s no irritation in it. There’s a protracted silence but Jaemin and Chenle wait it out, familiar with their lover’s need to ruminate before he speaks.

“I don’t know… Just — this whole pandemic thing made me think about life, I guess. What’re we going to do after it's all over?”

Jaemin and Chenle exchange looks.

“What about… us?” Jeno continues, frank now that he’s started talking. “Will we stay together until twenty-five? …Thirty?”

Chenle swallows. Twenty-five… and thirty? To tell the truth, he hadn’t thought that far. Even twenty seems another land at times, a milestone. He wonders if things like that are what twenty-year-olds ponder. Adulthood looms scary, sometimes.

But he feels only agreement when Jaemin speaks up after a pause, “Well… I, for one, plan to still be together. With both you idiots.”

Only Jaemin can make insults sound like endearments.

Chenle smiles, and chimes in softly, “Me too, hyung.”

Jeno’s smile is relieved, if still a little unsure. _Me three_ , he mouths, and Jaemin gasps dramatically, kissing his cheek. Chenle understands it’s not about them, but rather the hard truths of reality they’ve been made to face this year, at this already difficult age.

Sometimes, he struggles to breathe himself.

“Come on! Lighten up, dudes.” Without prompting needed, Jaemin takes on his usual role of icebreaker between them. They’ve had conversations like this any number of times, in bed and out, and when they fall into awkward silence Jaemin always melts it effortlessly. Now, a breathless laugh slips from Chenle’s lips as Jaemin slaps both their backs.

Jaemin gives them both meaningful looks. “You know I’m like a plant,” he says apropos of nothing. “I need both my sunlight and water to do photosynthesis.”

Jeno snorts. “Lele is obviously the sun, so does that make me water?"

Jaemin opens his mouth, but Chenle interrupts, “So what connection do water and the sun even have?” He pretends to scratch his head obnoxiously, to make Jaemin flustered.

“Zhong Chenle, you sassy brat —“ Jaemin starts in delight, even though he can outsass Chenle anytime.

Jeno shakes his head with an amused chuckle, drawing both their gazes to him effortlessly.

“You’re infuriating,” he tells Jaemin without heat, deliberately leaving Chenle out of it. Jaemin pouts on cue.

Yes, that’s their Jeno, Chenle thinks giggling, looking between them with his heart overflowing. All bravado and no bite. It never gets boring when the three of them are together, because they have this camaraderie, these sparks. They stimulate each other in a way they don’t when it’s just any two of them.

Jaemin pretends to huff now, though his eyes are shining. “You freaks are the worst, ganging up on me when I’m just trying to make you feel better. Anyways, I gotta go microwave the takeout. We’ll get indigestion if we eat too late,” he fusses.

“Oh yeah.” Jaemin grabs both their necks and pulls them together to whisper in their ears naughtily before he leaves. “I’ve been thinking about this all day, so fight it out between yourselves over who’s going to fuck me later, boys.”

Jeno’s sharp intake of breath makes the way Chenle’s heart trips in his chest marginally less embarrassing. They’re both blushing when Jaemin disappears with a satisfied smirk into the house, humming all the way to the kitchen.

Their eyes meet as they shift apart, and avert just as quickly. The last time Jaemin issued them an order like this, he’d ended up taking both their cocks in succession, so it’s kind of unclear whose turn it is now.

Unbidden, Chenle’s mind drifts back to the last time they had sex, which was a few days ago. Jaemin had a day off the next day so Jeno and Chenle kind of discussed it and wanted to give him the full menu to help him relax, but Chenle had ended up being the one worshipped by them that night.

Jeno had lavished hickeys all over his neck and collarbones, careless now they didn’t have to go to school, while Jaemin fucked Chenle and jerked Jeno off with one sloppy hand, multitasking like a pro. Chenle felt spoiled rotten not having to do a single thing but take Jaemin’s demanding thrusts “like a good boy”, in his words.

He loves how eager to please they both are in bed, Jaemin’s passion more overwhelming than he expected, bubbling up easily behind his trademark reserve; while Jeno is surprisingly earnest and sensual.

His longing thoughts are interrupted by the scrape of Jaemin dragging a chair up to the entrance of their makeshift balcony. He props it before the doorway, and Jeno automatically plods in to help him drag another two chairs up when he realises what Jaemin wants.

Jaemin smiles at them, soft. “Let’s eat here tonight. The night view is pretty and you two zombies are pasty as fuck because you never go out anymore.”

Jeno breathes a dry laugh and sits down in one of the chairs, looking almost carefree again. Chenle’s heart tugs, almost aches at how gorgeous his face is, as beloved as Jaemin’s. He can’t imagine losing either of them and the home they’ve created together — ever — so he doesn’t.

He’s surprised to be pulled into Jeno’s lap before he can settle down in his own chair. Chenle lands with a muffled oof and feels Jeno’s lips curving against the shell of his ear. The barely there nuzzle sends electricity down to his toes. Afraid to crush Jeno with his weight, Chenle shifts slightly but Jeno holds him anchored with a loose arm wrapped around his waist, resting teasingly close to his dick.


	2. Chapter 2

Jaemin pretends to be offended when he comes back with three cups and a plate of food to share.

“Don’t hog him,” he chastises Jeno as he sinks down into his chair. “My lap is lonely too.”

Jeno’s arm stays on Chenle’s waist. “Just a little longer. What the hell is this?” He makes a face after sipping the black tea.

“Lapsang Souchong,” Jaemin replies pompously. “Here, you can have mine if it’s bitter. I added a ton of sugar.”

“Of course you did,” Jeno sighs, but switches cups with Jaemin and offers Chenle the next sip. “We shouldn’t be drinking caffeine at this hour.”

Jaemin waves a hand. “This little caffeine won’t affect me; and how are you two going to fuck me properly later without an energy boost? Who’s going to, by the way?”

Jeno and Chenle nearly spit out their drinks at the same time. Jaemin pretends not to notice, looking disappointed when they don’t answer. He starts fussing about Jeno and Chenle wearing their shoes out to the fire escape and tracking dirt through the house, though they’d carried them there because the ground of the escape is too dirty for bare feet.

“Chenle, go back to your seat before you spill your drink on the chair like before again.” Jaemin draws him into the conversation easily, noticing his quietness. Chenle snickers at the memory and Jeno pauses stuffing his mouth to feed him a french fry.

It’s nice, sitting on the threshold like this where he can still feel the balmy night air without the mild vertigo the fire escape always gives him, though they don’t live very far up. The three of them, just vibing. Chenle stares at his Chuck Taylors lined up beside Jeno’s Doc Martens in the doorway, their three cups around the plate on Chenle’s empty chair. There’s something intimate and quieting about it.

“So what brought these thoughts on?” Jaemin presses Jeno after Chenle has finally moved to sit between Jaemin’s spread legs and satisfied him. Jaemin’s breath puffs warm on his ear as he speaks, and Chenle trembles, Jaemin’s fingers sliding beneath his shirt to play with the waistband of his basketball shorts when he senses it.

Chenle squirms and takes a deep breath, trying to concentrate on Jeno’s response. He understands Jaemin’s curiosity — though Jeno looks like the kind of person who seldom disappears into his own head, he naturally has occasional neuroses like everyone else.

Jeno lifts his shoulders again, finishing up Jaemin’s tea.

“It just occurred to me.” He reaches for Jaemin’s frisky hand and starts playing with his fingers, apparently having noticed what he was doing under Chenle’s sweatshirt. “What if one day… we break up?” Jeno hesitates. “Or what if… one of us breaks up with the other two? Wouldn’t that be incredibly awkward?” His voice is small, looking like he regrets voicing out such an appalling thought.

“Hyung, you’re thinking too much,” Chenle says, at the same time Jaemin makes an incredulous noise.

“We’re a package deal,” Jaemin adds, squeezing Chenle’s stomach with his arm. “If we break up, nobody’s staying together.”

There’s a moment of silence, before Jeno’s laughter breaks it. Jaemin mirrors Chenle’s dopey grin.

“I guess that settles that, then,” Jeno says wryly, popping the last morsel of food into Jaemin’s mouth. Jaemin chews noisily beside Chenle’s ear, Adam’s apple moving as he rests his chin on Chenle’s shoulder.

Even after they’ve finished eating, even though Chenle knows Jaemin is eager for the sex he proposed, can feel the sexual energy sparking impatiently under his skin, they linger in their seats, reluctant to break the spell. The closeness between them tonight feels almost like its own entity. It feels like they’ve drawn tighter together, after they affirmed the answer to Jeno’s question.

“You asked what we’ll do after this is over,” Jaemin blurts out, non sequitur. “Should we get couple rings?”

“We’re not a couple,” Chenle points out.

“Then… trio rings? Whatever.” Jaemin is getting excited. “We could ask Renjun to design them. How’s that sound?” Renjun is the art major from their school who lives a floor below. Chenle had immediately hit it off with him after moving in, but Jeno and Jaemin only befriended him after they approached him to teach them Chinese sweet nothings to use on Chenle. Just thinking about their earnest but unintentionally funny attempts to pronounce the Mandarin pick-up lines makes Chenle bite back laughter.

“Who’s going to pay for them?” Jeno deadpans. “We’re all flat broke at this point.” He lost his part-time job at a PC bang a while ago.

“Me, of course,” Chenle hears himself say spontaneously. “It’s a great idea, hyung.” He nestles his head into the crook of Jaemin’s neck.

Jaemin quickly protests, hand moving up to stroke his hair, “I wasn’t suggesting you pay for them, honey; we could just get something cheap —“ but Chenle smiles and kisses his jaw.

“I know. I want to.”

Jaemin sometimes jokingly calls Chenle their sugar daddy, because since they started dating Chenle has managed to find any number of anniversaries to give them absurdly extravagant gifts. It’s not that he wants to show off his opulence, or win their affections with material goods, but since he was young, Chenle has found it difficult to find enough ways besides spending money to express his feelings to the ones he loves most.

And these two favourite hyungs of his who keep their cards close to their chest but wear their hearts on their sleeves — there’s nothing Chenle wouldn’t do to make them smile.

He never expected to find a second home away from home in Korea. Spent high school stumbling over his Korean and keeping to himself because he was shy about his proficiency. But Jaemin and Jeno walked right through the walls he put up, as if they didn’t even see them.

It wasn’t until he fell into first love with not just one but two boys, that Chenle realised how much he’d been repressing himself. He’d been preoccupied with just surviving in a foreign country, content to fit in and find friendship. Romance was the last thing on his mind.

He hadn’t known he was allowed, entitled to fall in love so recklessly; even while sometimes still feeling like a fish out of water after years in Seoul.

When he told Jisung, his best friend from high school, about his first relationship, Jisung had scratched his head and asked, “How does that work?” Not judgmental, but genuinely puzzled.

Chenle found that he didn’t know how to explain. He himself doesn’t even understand fully how it works — just that it _does_. In fact, sometimes it shocks him when he feels the synergy among the three of them is even easier than if they were two. Would they even get on if any two of them tried dating without the third? Debatable.

He was a virgin before Jaemin and Jeno gently broke him in, branded him; transmuted him from plain old Chenle into _their_ Chenle. He’d buried desire so deep inside that before he met them, he’d even been secretly worried that he might be asexual, because he felt so little interest in the girls who flirted with him. When the two older boys first touched him, he felt relieved that he wasn’t frigid after all — just preferring a slightly different kind of love than normal, maybe even meant for it.

It hadn’t been straightforward from the start. Soon after the three of them started living together, the apartment became fraught with angst. Chenle couldn’t figure out why Jaemin would slam his room door, lips tight, when he came home to Jeno helping Chenle with his homework, arm around his shoulder. His heart sank as things escalated uncontrollably to Jeno punching stuff when Jaemin took petty revenge by only cooking for Chenle. Because by that time he already felt extraordinarily fond of both of them, his confusion made him conclude, irrationally, that they were unconsciously in love with each other and he was the third party.

The adolescent strife came to a head one day when they thrashed it out, thankfully with no blood shed, and he realised that no — Jaemin and Jeno weren’t jealous of him. They were jealous of each other. And, well, of him too. It was all very complicated, but also somehow the easiest thing he’d ever done.

When they discovered the tension between them wasn’t angry, but sexual, they apparently made so much noise boning that afternoon that Renjun banged on his ceiling and yelled, muffled, “Fucking finally!” He did this in Mandarin so it was presumably addressed to Chenle, who promptly flushed bright red and declined to translate it to Jeno and Jaemin.

Besides Jisung, Renjun is the only other person who knows about their unique relationship. Even Donghyuck, Renjun’s housemate, and Mark, Jeno and Jaemin’s closest friend at school, don’t know. Neither does Chenle’s parents.

He can’t wait for the day when they can shout it from the rooftops.

As the hour is getting late and they know Jaemin must be tired, the three of them finally get to their feet and shut the fire escape door. Jeno heads to the kitchen to wash the dishes and Jaemin and Chenle move the chairs back, but before that there’s a moment where they both get uncomfortably close to him (and each other), accidentally on purpose, already slipping effortlessly into foreplay. Both of them tower slightly over Chenle. He loves they’re ever so subtly taller than him, stronger than him, the way he loves how Jeno’s dulcet and Jaemin’s sandpaper voice are just an octave deeper than his own. It makes him feel protected, smaller, like the younger one he is.

When Jeno emerges from the kitchen Jaemin drags them both in the direction of his bedroom, posthaste. Chenle likes how even in his enthusiasm he’s gentle where Jeno is clumsy; sensitive where Jeno is brusque. Even when he’s manhandling them, though, Jeno is tender in a way he never is outside the bed. The background noise of their banter and bickering — because the two of them never stopped being best friends even after they started dating — has become the soundtrack to Chenle’s life.

“Hyung,” Chenle murmurs abruptly, and they both stop in their tracks, looking confused in that way they always do when he doesn’t add a name to the address, both trying to disguise their hope that they’re the one Chenle is calling. He enjoys that way too much.

Now, Chenle tries not to indulge in immature wiles, and looks at them seriously in turn.

“I love you. Both.” Then he bites his lip and drags his gaze to the ground, because their eyes are piercing and his cheeks are warm.

He enjoys this way too much, too — taking advantage of his position as the youngest to blindside them with childish honesty and make them lose their adult composure.

“Aww, don’t cry, old man,” Jaemin coos, letting go of Chenle’s hand to thump Jeno’s back, and of course Chenle has to look up to see that Jaemin is only trolling, as usual — he’s the one who looks misty-eyed, in fact. His eyes are still like lasers on Chenle’s so Chenle quickly shifts his gaze away, to Jeno.

Jeno’s expression appears unchanged, but before they move on he says, quietly, “I love you guys too.” Casual as anything, as though it isn’t the first damn time he’s ever said it to Jaemin and Chenle. That fact isn’t lost on the two of them, though.

Jaemin doesn’t echo it back, but the glint in his eye makes Chenle’s stomach flip.

“Who do you love _more_ , though, Lele-yah?” Jaemin’s calculating drawl disarms Chenle effortlessly. Jaemin flashes his shit-eating grin, savouring his discomfort. Chenle knows better than to take the bait by now. This game of Jaemin’s always ends with the two of them fighting over who to wreck Chenle.

Tonight belongs to Jaemin.

Giving up when he doesn’t respond, Jaemin lets go of them momentarily to open his room door. They hang back while he tosses a few clothes off his bed and straightens the room up a little, looking adorably embarrassed.

Unexpectedly, Jeno crowds into Chenle’s personal space, making him take a confused step back. Jeno leans close to whisper in his ear, voice low and gravelly, “You looked so good with my cum on your chest the last time.”

Chenle stutters, caught off guard and mortified. Yes, he’d almost forgotten this is how Jeno is — though not as demonstrative as Jaemin, always the one who takes the initiative, leads the kiss he suddenly plants on Chenle’s mouth. Jeno releases his chin, eyes still on his lips, and swipes Chenle’s bottom lip fondly with his finger. Chenle never expected this uneventful day to end with Jeno not only professing his love but getting all beastly and overwhelming like this. Indeed, while Jaemin is the glue that holds them together, Jeno is the one who rounds them out, completes them.

Jaemin interrupts them, hands on his hips and eyes narrowed.

“I thought I was the one going to be fucked today. Are you fucking Chenle too, Jeno-yah?”

“Maybe,” Jeno says lightly, making heat crawl up Chenle’s neck. “Eat your heart out.”

They catch a glimpse of the vulnerability that crosses Jaemin’s face before he turns away with a soft _Okay_ , and Jeno quickly snatches Jaemin’s hand.

“What?” Jaemin’s voice is gruff as he turns around again.

“You’re free tomorrow, right? Wanna go biking?”

“My bike’s at my mom’s house, though,” Chenle quickly says. “You guys can go yourselves.”

“Stupid.” Jaemin raps his head, smile wreathing his face again. “You can ride on the back of mine.”

This is nice as well, Chenle thinks giddily. Lowering their defences slowly and revealing their vulnerabilities and weaknesses to one another. It should feel invasive, but Chenle finds himself only wanting to share more, to give everything.

Maybe it’s because they’ve always treated him not only like an equal, but their best third.

They always wait for him.

Because Jaemin decides to prep and lubricate himself up first — he’s independent like that and likes to do things himself sometimes — Jeno and Chenle are left alone again in his room, staring at each other. Jeno switches on the air conditioner, arranges the pillows a little and walks back to stand right in front of Chenle, sticking close although they have the whole room of space.

Jeno tries to pin his eyes for awhile but Chenle has trouble maintaining eye contact because Jeno’s intense gaze is unnerving.

“I was serious, you know,” Jeno finally says softly, giving up on catching his eyes. “You’ve been driving me crazy all night.” He swears under his breath.

When Chenle looks up breathlessly, Jeno is smiling, surprisingly sweet.

“Chenle-yah… can I fuck you after Jaemin?”

Of _course_ he can. Chenle is only too happy to see those playful eye crescents back again, would jump through hoops to put that boyish smile of delight on Jeno’s face. But he pretends to consider, to drive a hard bargain, because that’s the role he takes among the three of them — insolent brat who needs his hyungs to punish him, gentle but unsparing.

“Only if I get to fuck you the next time, hyung,” he replies, equally sweetly. Finally meeting Jeno’s piqued gaze with his best puppy dog eyes.

“Deal,” Jeno retorts so fast Chenle’s head spins.

This promise excites Chenle more than he wants to reveal. Jason Derulo’s Swalla is playing at low volume in the background, the mood music Jaemin put on, barely audible since it’s already ass o’clock in the morning. _My freaky, freaky girl_ , Chenle sings along in English, eyes on Jeno, not sure if he understands but feeling his heart race at Jeno’s bedroom smirk.

Jeno sits down on Jaemin’s bed and leans back with his palms braced behind him, continuing to eyeball Chenle as if it’s the first day they met. To calm himself, Chenle pretends to be distracted, fumbling in Jaemin’s nightstand for condoms. Jeno raises his eyebrows as Chenle takes out the Swarovski-studded furry pink handcuffs he gifted Jaemin, because though Jaemin looks the most innocent he’s secretly the biggest perv among them. Jaemin has kept them in pristine condition.

Unsurprisingly, they remind Chenle of the time he had been cuffed to his own bedpost, naked, and forced to watch as a blindfolded Jeno rode Jaemin on Chenle’s swivel chair, the younger’s cock disappearing into his hole. Jaemin had enjoyed both their helplessness as he fucked up into Jeno mercilessly with his eyes over Jeno’s shoulder never leaving Chenle’s, daring him to close them. Jaemin only tore his eyes off Chenle’s to flick them pointedly down to his dick, which had grown progressively harder and ended up angrily flushed and erect, smearing precum across his stomach so lewdly Chenle almost started crying.

Undoubtedly it reminds Jeno of that night too, judging from how he grimaces and tells Chenle to put that away, which he does with a smile.

Truthfully, he hadn’t minded that much, had almost as much fun as Jaemin, and Jaemin knew it. Jaemin and Jeno love nothing more than to fight to be the boss in their bedroom, to dominate the other two. And Chenle goes along, because he doesn’t particularly mind taking the passive role, because he idolises them and still can’t believe his luck that they’ve included him. Because he finds this give and take and power play he’s been drawn into compulsively engaging, and they’re the only men he’ll ever willingly surrender to.

Jeno drops Chenle’s hoodie on the floor with Jaemin’s clothes, lifts his threadbare shirt off his shoulders, then reaches out silently. Chenle smiles and lets Jeno peel his sweatshirt sleeves off slowly to reveal his bare arms. He takes off his watch as Jeno calls impatiently, “Jaemin-ah! What’s taking you so long?”

The air thickens as they continue undressing each other. After a few minutes they hear Jaemin coming back, at last.

“My loves,” he says, closing the door and joining them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much to everybody who’s already supporting this fic :) i finished drafting the outline and it’s going to be slightly longer than originally planned, partially because i realised it’s more introspection-heavy than my normal works and i wanted to balance that out with more dialogue and action. i just felt would be dry if there’s too much introspection (i still feel that it’s too much, do let me know your honest opinions if you want haha).
> 
> thank you so much again for your interest in this fic.


	3. Chapter 3

"You took so long.” Jeno’s hands are on Jaemin’s clothes right away, stripping him like he did Chenle. “Didn’t get off on your own without us, did you?” His petulant voice contrasts his confident movements, deepening as he sets Jaemin’s already semi hard on free of its constraints.

“No, hyung,” Jaemin whines, playing the card they both know Jeno is useless against. “Give me some credit.”

Chenle is more than content to sit back and watch, but Jeno addresses him without taking his eyes off Jaemin: “Chenle, loosen Jaemin hyung up. You want his dick in your smart mouth, don’t you?”

“Yes, please.” Chenle tries not to sound like he’s panting. Jaemin’s eyes gleam as he approaches Chenle sitting on the bed, mischief darkening his dilated pupils.

Jaemin’s dick slaps Chenle’s face lightly, his hands grabbing Chenle’s shoulders. Chenle’s hands instinctively go up to wrap around Jaemin’s warm cock, fastening his lips clumsily to the crown. Jaemin lets out a low moan and digs his nails into Chenle’s skin. The roughness of Chenle's tongue teasing Jaemin's slit makes him leak, breath hitching.

“Look at me.” Jeno’s voice comes from behind, commanding. Chenle immediately flicks his eyes in his direction.

Jeno has rolled on a condom and is lazily stroking himself, eyes on Chenle’s lips stretched over Jaemin’s dick, saliva pooling in his throat. Jaemin is taking deep breaths, pelvis trembling to hold himself back from thrusting.

The heat of Jeno’s gaze and Jaemin’s pulsing cock makes Chenle’s whole body wild with hunger. His mind loops back to Jeno’s promise, and Chenle can’t wait for Jeno to exploit his body after Jaemin’s, to wring all the pleasure from him and use Chenle up.

“Lele, Jeno, please —“ It’s unclear who Jaemin is asking, already incoherent with need for release. Chenle would smile if his mouth weren’t filled. _So sensitive for me_ , he thinks, moving the ring of his lips further down Jaemin’s cock, his fingers wrapping around what he can’t take. Jaemin breathes, “Fuck.” Chenle’s hair is grabbed painfully. One of his hands find purchase on the back of Jaemin’s thigh, slightly slippery with a little lube leaking from Jaemin’s ass.

“You’re a slutty little thing, aren’t you, Chenle?” Jeno’s harsh taunt makes them both shudder. “You need every pretty hole of yours filled with someone’s cock?”

“Jeno, please shut up,“ Jaemin starts to groan, but Chenle nods furiously, eyes starting to water and jaw aching dully. Jeno smiles at him, and Chenle closes his eyes and starts to fellate his younger hyung.

Chenle swallows Jaemin down till he hits the back of his throat. His mouth is as full as his heart feels, for once. Jaemin loses control and thrusts shallowly into his mouth, fingers fisted in the roots of his hair, and Chenle gasps around him as Jaemin cums in his throat.

He coughs after Jaemin pulls out, all apologies. “Hyung, it’s okay.” Chenle has barely reassured him with a watery smile before Jeno is grabbing Jaemin’s shoulders and pushing him down onto the bed so he falls on his back. Chenle wisely gets out of the way.

“Ass in the air,” Jeno orders Jaemin silkily.

Jaemin has his face in the sheets, red high on his cheekbones, Jeno’s hands loosely gripping his hips. Chenle helpfully touches Jaemin’s dick and he hisses, the sensitive organ twitching again. Chenle lets go and takes one of his white-knuckled hands instead. Jaemin’s voice is hoarse with gratitude.

“Chenle, Chenle, Chenle —“ Jaemin’s pretty, fucked out voice chants his name like a mantra as Jeno pushes in, Jaemin’s grip turning bone-crushing on Chenle’s palm. “Ah! _Jeno_.” Their boyfriend’s name is forced out of his mouth by a sudden thrust and Chenle manages to slip his numb hand from Jaemin’s grasp.

It’s a sight to behold. Jeno’s tongue dragging over his lips with concentration, determined to satisfy Jaemin’s powerful libido tonight. Jaemin with the knuckles of one hand in his mouth to muffle his wanton noises. Even in the most naked, vulnerable contortions of ecstasy, Chenle’s hyungs look devastating.

As if sensing his thoughts, Jeno glances towards Chenle, making his heart quake the way Jaemin’s thighs have started trembling. He’s hard again. Chenle tears his eyes away from Jeno’s, face feverish, to dutifully flick his wrist around Jaemin’s cock and release him. Jaemin lets out a garbled noise and falls apart almost instantaneously.

Five minutes later, Jaemin is wasted on his loveseat and watching them through hooded eyes, understandably drained from having come twice in quick succession. Chenle is seated on the bed again, the intoxicating scent of musk and sex already heavy in the air. Jeno has a slight sheen of sweat on his temples and Chenle can’t resist brushing the bangs matted to his forehead away from flushed and hot skin.

Jeno is kneeled between Chenle’s knees. He slips a hand between Chenle’s legs and spreads his thighs. He starts licking Chenle’s neglected dick and Chenle almost combusts spontaneously, Jeno tilting his head to tongue a broad stripe down the length of his shaft, whorishly.

Chenle cums on Jeno’s cheek and hair and he wipes it away without batting an eyelash. He doesn’t get it all off and Chenle feels desire ignite in the pit of his stomach at his cum pretty on Jeno’s face, Jaemin’s encouraging stare riveted on them.

Chenle loves that he’s the only one who can make the both of them lose control. Him, and only him.

“Jaemin, come here.” Jeno beckons their lover, and Jaemin obediently gets up, throwing Jeno’s shirt over his boxers carelessly. Chenle watches dazedly as Jeno whispers into Jaemin’s ear, eyes roving hungrily over Chenle who is sprawled limp. A Cheshire smile curls the ends of Jaemin’s lips.

Jaemin gets behind Chenle on the bed, gently easing Chenle’s shoulders into his lap. Chenle tries to look at him but Jeno says again, “Look at me, baby.”

Chenle’s eyes snap back to Jeno. “Good boy,” Jeno intones, hushed. “Can you spread your legs for hyung?”

Without warning, Jeno bends and hitches Chenle’s legs over his shoulders, starts licking Chenle’s hole open. Chenle’s gasps devolve into whimpering _Hyung, hyung, hyung_ like a dummy, no longer sure of who he’s calling as Jaemin strokes his sweaty hair back and whispers, “You’re doing so well, darling.”

Even as he sobs, writhes at the filth of it, Chenle loves the praise and the attention.

They always take care of him.

Jeno is porcelain hard again as if he didn’t just fuck Jaemin (“Because of you, baby”) and Chenle thinks he might burst apart at the seams as Jeno fills him full, buries himself in Chenle to the hilt, jaw clenched from how tightly Chenle is clamping around him.

“Relax,” Jeno grits out, grabbing Chenle’s dick like the joystick on his game console and jerking him a little. Without finesse, but enough to make Chenle cum. He swears he almost squeals embarrassingly. Unable to hold himself back any longer, Jeno starts pumping into him, each thrust driving Chenle back against Jaemin’s solid body.

He’s lost in delirium by now. His boyfriends are the only ones who can make him lose himself completely, but remind him exactly who he is at the same time.

They fall into bed promptly after the athletic workout, blissfully spent. Spooning, with Chenle between. The only thing that’s better than being the little spoon, is having two big spoons. His hyungs are significantly more tired out than him since they both worked hard to please him, as usual, so Chenle shows his gratitude by lavishing butterfly kisses over their sinuous bodies, soaking up their delicious post-sex afterglows. He knows their body art the way they know his bare skin; Jaemin’s piercings and Jeno’s tattoos.

Since the situation in their country has improved a lot, school will be starting up again soon. It’s been a weird time, but Chenle is so thankful to have been stuck with none other than these two troublesome, caring hyungs.

It made him unspeakably happy — the last few months.

Chenle falls asleep to the length of Jaemin’s lashes and the moonlight a patina on his luminous skin. His hair looks almost ash blue in the platinum light, like a fairy.

They make an unlikely trio — that’s what everybody who knows they’re together thinks. But when they’re together, there’s a kind of magic that can neither be described or explained. Chenle blinks awake groggily at dawn and finds them still curled around him like bookends. It’s been nearly six months since they started dating, but the two boys still fascinate and captivate him beyond measure. He feels, as always, the vast urge to chart the cipher of Jaemin and labyrinth of Jeno, utterly.

The dim early morning light is as murky as the future that lies ahead, but Chenle feels stupidly invincible. Maybe it’s because they’re young and reckless and romantic, fools in love, but their radical relationship doesn’t feel as daunting as it should.

This is what Chenle loves, most of all: the three of them figuring things out together, taking on the world and youth together, on the verge of forever. The promise between them is invisible but it’s _there_ , improbably perfect; strange and special.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually almost abandoned this (seriously, fuck perfectionism, im gonna finish what I started) but im really glad i managed to finish it. thank you so, so much if you read till the end. i really am grateful that there were even people interested in this and who read this, because i know it’s the rarest of rare pairs (i checked the tag and it seems there isn’t even any other nominle fics lol pls thrive holy trinity)
> 
> it would make me happy if you found reading this refreshing, as i’ve always wanted to write something different from my usual cliche premises. thank you so much again for your time and readership. i had a good time writing this fic.
> 
> eta - sorry i think it's not obvious from the way this chapter ended, plus these notes, but the fic doesn't end here, there's a chapter 4 haha jsyk


	4. epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tiny epilogue because i didn't stop thinking of this verse (and nomin) :)

"What are you two whispering about behind my back?” Jeno’s sleep-husky voice comes from behind. His arms wrap around Chenle. It’s warm with their combined body heat below the new sheets they haphazardly threw onto Jaemin’s bed the night before.

Chenle giggles as Jaemin reaches blindly over him for Jeno and almost pokes his eye.

“Jaemin hyung wants to go to the grocery store this morning.”

Jeno wakes up a little more at that, meeting Jaemin’s eyes across Chenle. Chenle’s never told them this — but he’s always loved the way they look at each other.

“I’ll go,” Jeno murmurs. “You must be tired.”

Jaemin argues halfheartedly, but Jeno won’t take no for an answer and Chenle sides with him.

“Hyung, just stay home with me. Jeno hyung can carry more stuff than you anyway. Or… I can go along with him, if you’re worried.”

“No, you both stay,” Jeno decides bossily. He’s always been protective of Jaemin, weak for him — everybody knows that — but Chenle wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jaemin finally relents grumbling, jabbing Chenle’s ribs. “Are you saying I’m not strong? Rude.”

Chenle catches his breath, awareness of being caged between his two boyfriends slowly building as his sleepiness fades. He’s only a year younger than them, but it’s enough for just being crammed into the same bed with their lanky bodies to trigger his raging hormones. Thinking of how Jeno had agreed to submit to him — and Chenle’s plans not to miss the chance to fuck him six ways to Sunday — only kindles his desire.

He tries his utmost not to show any of this on his face; but it’s almost as if they just know by telepathy or something. Jeno touches Chenle’s dick innocently, then whispers _Oops, sorry_ , while Jaemin slides a knee between his thighs from behind.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” Jeno tells them, knuckles still grazing Chenle’s awkward morning wood despite not commenting on it. They’ve got him cornered from both sides so he can’t turn away without being ambushed again. “In the meantime, Lele knows how to keep you entertained, right princess?”

He finally cuts Chenle a break and chucks him under the chin, eye-smiling. Chenle just smiles weakly, throat dry.

They finally crawl out of bed and take a surprisingly chaste shower together. The sun is falling through the windows and lighting their house up softly; it’s another new ordinary day and Chenle is stupid in love as ever.

Jaemin takes down a scrap of paper from the refrigerator and passes it to Jeno who’s using his phone on the couch. “That’s the grocery list.”

Jeno slides it into his pocket, not looking up. “Okay, Nana.”

“You have hand sanitiser and everything?” Jaemin continues hovering.

Jeno takes Jaemin’s hand and laces their fingers together, drags him down without warning for a taste of his lips. “Yes, mom. I’m literally just cycling ten minutes to the store. Oh hey look, I texted Renjun and he says Donghyuck is going too, so I’ll have company. Less worried now?”

Jaemin cracks a breathless smile. “Yes. Don’t forget to get my Americano.”

“I want hot choco,” Chenle says from beside Jeno, and he coos.

“Okay baby.” Chenle is scratched under the chin like one of his cats.

Embarrassed at being treated like a child, he asks sweetly, “Do you remember you said you love us last night, Jeno hyung?”

Jeno almost drops his phone, looking cagey. “… Did I say something like that?”

Jaemin gives him a withering look and pulls his reddening ear until he yelps, “Ow, okay I remember! Jeez.”

 _These hyungs_. Chenle is chortling uncontrollably again, looking between Jaemin’s unwilling smile and Jeno’s dorky flush, mesmerised. Jeno stands up and pockets his phone giving them both dirty looks, which only makes him laugh harder. Jeno grabs his backpack, and before he dons his mask and heads out they take turns to kiss him goodbye, shy and sloppy but tender.

“You hungry?” Jaemin checks after the door closes. “I could whip up something.”

“Not really.”

“‘kay.” Jaemin crinkles his eyes. “Let’s wait for him then; I’ll make brunch.”

They get their laptops out and sit side by side on the couch, ostensibly to do their online homework but end up mucking around on the internet and distracting each other.

“Hyung?” Chenle licks his lips, a question suddenly popping into his mind.

“Hm?” Jaemin looks so open and soft, hair tousled and eyes slightly puffy, that the words slip from Chenle’s mouth unthinking.

“Did you and Jeno hyung… before I moved in — did you guys ever… fool around?”

He realises he’d been wondering in the back of his mind, subconsciously. Before Chenle became their housemate, the two boys had lived together for half a year, and been best friends even longer. With their undeniable chemistry, it’s hard to imagine they hadn’t ever seen each other that way before Chenle appeared on the scene.

Jaemin’s eyes are wide, his computer forgotten on his lap. He blinks, before opening his mouth.

“Actually… yeah.”

Chenle blanches before he can control his reaction. No, he’s not a jealous person — just surprised. At least that’s what he tells himself.

Jaemin bursts out laughing, slapping Chenle’s bicep and seeming to find his expression hilarious. “I’m just kidding!” He finally stops, wiping his eyes. “Your eyeballs shook!” he keeps crowing in delight.

“Hyung is annoying, and a meanie.” Chenle folds his arms, giving his best acting in being angry. Two can play at this game. “Do you find teasing me funny?”

“Highly.” Jaemin’s eyes flash darkly, making Chenle lose his bearings again.

“Glad I entertain you,” he mumbles, slipping on his glasses and pretending to focus on his schoolwork. Jaemin copies him and dons his own wire-rimmed glasses, which only make him look like more of a fuckboy instead of studious.

He doesn’t expect to get a real elaboration, but is surprised to. Seeming to feel bad for his merciless jibing, Jaemin explains in a more serious tone, “I mean… Jeno always knew he was bi, but I thought I was straight for the longest time, so it was all kind of tragically awkward. We came close a few times, but — ultimately, I guess we were both afraid to ruin our friendship. So nothing happened. But then you came along, and...”

Chenle’s heart misses a beat, despite how used he’s already gotten to Jaemin’s cheesy declarations.

“You set everything into motion,” Jaemin finishes, and Chenle can feel his eyes intent on him though he can’t look up and meet them, the way only Jaemin can shake him up.

“Satisfied?” Jaemin smirks, like the cat who got the cream, and Chenle shoves him away, trying to stand up from the couch; but Jaemin grabs him around the waist, smooth, preempting him before he can even move.

After that, he gives up all pretence of doing work and leans on a hand, batting his long lashes coquettishly at Chenle.

“My cute, innocent Lele.” Jaemin pinches his cheek obnoxiously. “Jeno’s not here now, so you can tell the truth. You love me more, don’t you?”

Chenle loses the last of his patience and grabs the back of Jaemin’s head, kisses him roughly to shut him up.

Jaemin surfaces, sputtering, his face tomato red to Chenle’s satisfaction. He wipes his lips, pretending he didn’t enjoy it.

“Chenle, you’re so annoying. Why are you so irritating?” Jaemin muses, almost rhetorically. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“So lucky,” Chenle admits, surprising them both with his sincerity. It seems to mollify Jaemin, who gives him an indulgent smile with no further clapback. Maybe one day — when he’s burrowed under Jaemin’s bones enough to learn his secret to being so comfortable in his own skin — Chenle will admit that he only annoys Jaemin because he craves his attention and approval.

They quiet down into a comfortable silence eventually, and get a bit of serious work done. Chenle has a soft spot for when only two of them are alone, and it’s less rowdy than three, more intimate and cozy. He likes this contemplative Jaemin, as much as the savage him.

After a while, Jaemin stretches and says he’s drowsy. His yawn is contagious and Chenle pushes their laptops aside, tugging Jaemin to lie down and rest his head in his lap. Jaemin smiles up at him, eyes filled with adoration as Chenle cards fingers through his hair.

The sun sparkles through the filmy curtains, a breeze cooling the living room. Jaemin brings Chenle’s hand gently to his lips and kisses his (sanitised) fingertips.

The morning evanesces away as they doze off. Chenle and Jaemin chat about everything and nothing, about where they should go midnight biking later, and then they wait for Jeno to come home.


End file.
